@ghdprentice I heard those at the southwest Audiofest, might’ve been the debut and I thought they sounded really, really good especially for the price
MBL Insolvent
I apologize if someone else has started a thread I missed, but reports indicate that MBL has initiated insolvency proceedings under German law. Not all businesses succeed- its a feature not a bug in a free enterprise system- but hopefully new investors will come in and save the company. This seems to be following the way of Audio Research (fortunately saved) and others-lots of uncertainty surrounding Dartzeel, Krell, etc, which is unfortunate. So many of these manufacturers are small businesses, obviously without huge capital reserves and sometimes without a good succession plan when the founders move on. I hope MBL successfully restructures, it makes great products. I think we all benefit from a healthy, vibrant group at the top end that has the resources to create and innovate. Good luck MBL.
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@yesiam_a_pirate "...A sad fact is that the 2 channel high end audiophile is aging out and dying off. The successor generation has little use for high end gear. "
I have heard this for forty years. Yet the proliferation of high end companies has been incredible. The population of audiophiles has always been very small. But it must be larger than ever to support all these companies.
On the other hand, before the audiophile there was the short wave enthusiast. But, music is one of the most shared interests of people world wide... so, I'm thinking, not. |
Past innovators like Peter Walker, Henry Kloss, Nelson Pass, and Jim Winey made products that while some were “upscale” they were within the reach of enthusiasts who were not super- wealthy. The idea that innovative speaker design has to be crazy expensive is a byproduct of the ethos exemplified by Gordon Gecko. MBL has never tried to make an affordable version of the Radialstrahler. |
I am digging the updated LS series. The chassis build quality went up few notches and appearance, subjective as we know, looks is pretty solid and inviting. ”A sad fact is that the 2 channel high end audiophile is aging out and dying off.” That’s hardly a ‘fact’ ….I believe there’s hope. There are younger listeners who are getting into vinyl, tube gear, or desktop systems, even if their entry point looks different than ours. Maybe the future of this hobby won’t be exactly what it was but that doesn’t mean it’s gone. It might evolve into something more diverse and accessible, and maybe that’s not a bad thing. Still, for those of us who value the 2-channel experience, there’s definitely a sense of time passing and a responsibility to share what we’ve learned while we still can to somewhat shape the narrative for future generations. |
I'm not a MBL fanboy-never owned one of its products, and MBL leadership obviously didn't execute a viable plan. I hope MBL survives-I respect what they do. I've never been really tempted by ARC but I know it makes really good stuff and think the hobby is better off that it came through. I think MBL's entry level integrated is around 12 and entry level speaker is about 15. Whether that's affordable, I suppose, depends on where you sit. Certainly not competitive with ChiFi entry level stuff, which can be very good, but not through the roof either. I suspect the fact that MBL speakers are so different and its reputation is that MBL stuff doesn't play well with others-they try to leverage customers into the whole MBL ecosystem- may be contributing factors, but that's just a guess. Raises an interesting question though- I suspect we all agree with the wisdom of selling "affordable" gear, but what is that price point? Is it $1,000 speakers, $5,000? I don't know, but an interesting question. |
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